大石的悬棺谜景

鲁晓敏

在松阳和遂昌两县交界的丹霞谷地中，以松阴溪为界，南北两岸各聚集着一片高低错落的山峰，一片峥嵘险峻，一片跌宕起伏，仿佛一盘杀得兴起的棋局。一座叫尖坛背的山峰遮蔽在其中，它是一颗并不起眼的棋子，但在这块顽石中却隐藏着一个惊天的秘密，使得这盘棋充满了玄机。

上世纪初的某一天清晨，大石村后的尖坛背被一层薄雾包裹着，一个年轻的采药人腰绑麻绳，从山顶沿着岩石凹凸处向下爬行到了山腰。这时，他看到了一株长势茂盛的申姜，他挥舞着铁锄用劲地挖掘着，寂静的山谷中响起“丁丁”声。突然，采药人一脚踩空，随着一声惊叫，发现自己滑入到了一个宽阔的岩洞中。惊魂未定的采药人看到洞窟中摆放着一具厚重的棺木，强烈的好奇心驱使他撬开了棺木，他看到了终身难以忘怀的一幕：死者昂着骷髅头，面目狰狞，黑洞洞的眼窝散发着死亡的寒光。采药人倒吸一口冷气，赶紧逃离了岩洞。这一藏匿了不知多少年份的秘密随着采药人奋力一撬，终于被打开了。

听说大石村村民白少华曾经进入过岩洞，我很快在村子里找到了这个敦实的中年汉子，一看的确有些身手矫健的模样。白少华今年48岁，说话间嘴角还带了一丝愉快的笑意，他说16岁那年的确进过岩洞，那是一个初生牛犊不怕虎的年龄，在伙伴的怂恿下，绑着绳索顺着山崖一点点往下挪，费了九牛二虎之力终于进入了停放棺木的岩洞。白少华在这个清凉的山洞中终于见到了传说中的棺木，那具棺材非常结实厚重，长方形的棺材中躺着一副死人的骨头，通体皮肤风干，色泽黝黑，但是没有看到传说中的金银宝贝。过了几年，又有胆大的后生进洞，他试着移动棺木，结果棺木纹丝不动，遗骨被这个好事者取下山崖，后来辗转进入了松阳县博物馆收藏。

尖坛背遮挡在大坟头背、猪栏背、横背、海螺背、苦竹坞背、包家山岗背等诸多山峰中，一点也不出挑，没有向导的引路的确难以寻找。白少华带着我沿着逶迤的山路走了半个小时，终于来到尖坛背对面的一座山峰，顺着他的手指方向，向上仰望，一座罗城一样的山峰横亘在眼前，仿佛切开了山体的横截面。洞口所在位置离地面约有百米，距离山顶有四十多米，岩洞口如同一道微微咧开的嘴巴，嘴里含着一具棺木，嘴角露出一丝诡异的微笑。白少华说洞窟相当敞阔，呈喇叭形，内窄，外宽，洞口高二到三米，宽八九米，深五六十米。洞窟周围全是悬崖峭壁，以古代的科技条件和生产力，无论是从下往上吊棺材还是从上往下放棺材，都是一个相当浩大的工程，是一件异想天开的事情。在如此垂直陡峭的山崖上，松阳先民却做到了我们不敢想象的壮举，他们平稳地将棺木安放进洞穴中。我站在山脚，怔怔地仰望着，长久地盯着金箔色的山体，一直看得眼睛生疼，那真是一个充满幻想的年代啊！

我在江西的龙虎山看过崖葬表演，表演者先将棺木用竹排撑至崖洞下方的溪流中，十几根结实的麻绳将棺木捆绑好，随着一声号令，悬崖上方众多的表演者齐心协力，将棺木渐渐地往上拉。经过艰难的起吊，由一个事先下到崖洞的表演者用勾索将棺木平移进洞。整个过程借助了许多现代化的手段，依旧是缓慢而吃力，松阳先人是不是也是运用类似的技术，我们已经不得而知。显然，尖坛背悬棺的安葬难度要远胜江西龙虎山的崖葬，前者山势更加陡峭，而且崖洞底下并不是溪流，而是一处凹陷的山谷，道路也相当崎岖，使得棺木运输增加了难度。

崖葬是古代百越民族特有的葬俗，四川、湖南、江西、福建、广西、贵州、浙江等地都有崖葬习俗。崖葬有多种类型，有的将棺材通过人力放置在距离地面几十米甚至上百米的崖壁上。由于地理位置非常险峻，崖葬工程量大，难度高，仪式非常神秘，存世的也很少。直到尖坛背悬棺的发现，才填补了浙南崖葬历史的空白。

在浙南一带，少数出家人圆寂后，也有将棺材和骨灰罐摆放在天然山崖洞窟中的葬俗。大石村对面的万寿山上，一处叫上横栏的天然洞穴中就曾堆积着数十具棺木和上百个骨灰罐，可惜这些积存了数百年的文物在文革中遭到横扫。万寿山的棺木摆放比较简单容易，只需顺着平缓的山道将棺木抬进岩洞即可，它与尖坛背悬棺的难度不可同日而语，葬制也完全不同。对尖坛背悬棺，我一直不明白，为什么这种奇特的葬俗会落在松阳？他们是一群什么样的人？他们究竟是采用什么方法将几百斤重的棺木运上崖洞的呢？

在大石村的群山中，有一处相当生僻的地名叫棺材弄夹，山体中裂开一处天然的大岩洞，净三开间大，可以同时容纳100余人。东西两侧均是耸立的岩石，加上几株枝繁叶茂的杉树横贯在洞口，这个山洞显得极为隐秘，除了村人一般无人知晓，成为村人当年躲避兵祸和匪祸的天然避难场所。1942年8月，侵华日军由遂昌进入松阳时路过大石村，村民紧急逃往山洞避难，躲过了一劫。白少华说他是土生土长的大石村人，他也不清楚在这些连绵的群山中到底隐藏了多少岩洞，也不知道那些岩洞里到底有多少秘密？或许在今后很长的一段时间里，大石村还会如同魔术师宽大的袖子一样，变出另外的山崖物体，让世人惊诧不已。

大石村，顾名思义，整座村庄被累累巨石围绕，有的如同佝偻着脊背的佛陀，有的如同瞌睡的狮子，有的如同平整的屏风，有的如同馒头，有的如同海螺，有的如同寿桃，奇形怪状的石头拱卫着大石村，村名应石而生，自然是简单贴切，没有必要做太多的文辞修饰。大石更像一座巨大的石头门阙，门后就是一座巨大的文化宝库，原本无比笨重的区域刹那间变得无比空灵。

在大石村西南的一片茶叶地里，埋藏着一个苍老的遗址，它在地底下安静地躺了三四千年，它的出土时间比尖坛背悬棺整整晚了半个世纪。1982年，一个种地的农民驱赶着耕牛，在这片深浅不一的地表下翻出了一个远古的秘密。在这里相继出土了商代印纹陶罐、印纹酒壶以及西周的罐、樽等器物，器物周身印刻着回纹、席纹、绳纹、云纹、曲折纹，拙朴宽厚的携带着地层的泥气，这些典型的百越文化陶器让事实开口说话—大石村早在商周时期就是先民的聚居地。占地大约20000多平方米的大石商周遗址是松阳最古老的村落之一，它的颓垣断壁以平面的方式积压在泥土层中，为我们保留着一个想象的轮廓。这处庞大的遗址看似与悬棺没有多大关系，一个在山上，一个在地下，一个隐蔽在蔚蓝色的天空，一个躲藏在黑漆漆的地底，从结构关系来说，他们的姿态恰恰相反。或许，一脉追溯，他们就是悬棺主人的祖先，他们之间在大石这块奇玄的土地上有着一种冥冥之间的暗合。

尖坛背悬棺，向世人展示出一个千古难以破解的谜团，为松阳崖葬保留了标本，让我们目睹这一古老而玄妙的葬制，领略这一古老文化的风采。那么，悬棺主人究竟是一个怎么样的人？悬棺下葬的确切时间是什么时候？松阳历史上到底有过多少悬棺？这一切都成了解不开的谜团。历史就是这样，在时间的磨砺中落下了一个个谜团，让后人在翻检的时候不知所措，又惊喜不已。

（本文照片由叶高兴摄）

The Cave Coffin Mystery near Big Rock Village

By Lu Xiaomin

A bubbling stream separates Songyang County and Suichang County in the southern Zhejiang Province. Towering peaks flank the valley. In the valley perches Big Rock Village.

What makes this village special is a cave coffin accidentally discovered by a herbal gatherer in the republican years before 1949. Now no one remembers who the herbal gatherer was or when it happened， but the legendary account remains.

One early morning， a young herbal gatherer of Big Rock Village roped down a cliff to dig herbs. He lost his footing on the cliff and slipped into a huge cave. While looking hastily around to understand where he was， he could not believe his eyes： he spotted a thick wood coffin in the cave. He was frightened but became curious at the same time. He pried open the coffin and saw a skeleton. The holes where the eyes had been stared back at him. He was frightened. He came back and told the story to villagers.

The other day I visited Big Rock. Bai Shaohua， now 48， visited the coffin high up in the cave in 1980 when he was 16. With the help of his fellows， he roped himself down the cliff and entered the cave. Yes， the coffin was indeed very thick and huge， something built to last. The remains inside the coffin were not exactly a skeleton. It was a mummy with the dried and darkened skin. He did not see any treasure in the coffin. A few years later， a bold young man from the village came into the cave. He tried to move the coffin， but the huge coffin did not budge an inch. He removed the mummy out of the coffin and brought it back to the village. The mummy is now safely housed in Songyang County Museum.

The cave is situated on a cliff of a hill called Jian Tan Bei， which does not stand out from a cluster of peaks near the village. Without a guide， a visitor from the outside could easily get lost among hills. Bai Shaohua and I went to visit the cave. After trekking for half an hour， we came to the foot of the peak. Bai pointed and I looked up. The cliff looks like a fortress. The cave is about 100 meters above the spot where I stood and there is another 40 meters to the top. The cave looks like a smirking mouth. Bai Shaohua said the cavernous cave takes the shape of a trumpet： the cave is about 20 meters tall， 50 meters wide， and 40 to 50 meters deep. The coffin is placed on a spot just inside the cave. The cliff presents a vertical surface， as if hewn by an axe. How the coffin got up the cliff and made its way into the cave remains unknown.

Cliff burial and cave burial are very ancient ways to bury the deceased in many parts of southern China such as Sichuan， Hunan， Jiangxi， Fujian， Guizhou and Zhejiang provinces. The coffin in the cave near Big Rock was the first cliff burial found in Zhejiang Province.

In some places of southern Zhejiang， cave burial was exclusively used for Buddhist monks and nuns. An easily accessible cave near Big Rock Village used to serve as a cemetery where dozens of coffins and more than a hundred bone-ash urns were placed. They had been there for hundreds of years before they were destroyed and removed during the Cultural Revolution （1966-1976）.

Big Rock Village is surrounded by hills where many caves exist. In August 1942 Japanese soldiers passed by Big Rock on their way from Suichang to Songyang. The residents of Big Rock hastily hid themselves in a big cave in a nearby mountain. The cave， unknown to outsiders， saved them. Bai Shaohua says that he was born and brought up in Big Rock， but even he has no idea how many caves are out there in the mountains. He says he would not be surprised if one day someone discovers a cave by accident and finds a coffin there.

What he wonders is not totally groundless. In 1982， a farmer of Big Rock was plowing in a farmland near the village when he unearthed an object that looked like a shard of a pottery piece. Archaeologists came. Quite a few pottery pieces such as pitchers， wine kettles， and urns were unearthed in the farmland. It is said that all these pottery utensils were products of the Shang Dynasty and Zhou Dynasty about three thousand years ago. Altogether， archaeologists found a 200，000-m2 site of ruins of a large rural settlement. The site represents one of the most ancient ancestral settlements in Songyang.

The underground ruins of the ancient settlement may not have anything to do with the coffin in the cave high up on a cliff， but both are part of the secrets Big Rock holds. The mummy from the cave coffin remains a mystery. Archaeologists wonder who the deceased was， when the burial took place， how many cave coffins there were in the history of Songyang， whether some still exist quietly in a cave somewhere in the hills.